More than a year after the ₹19.24 crore multi-disciplinary sports complex was inaugurated by Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, the swimming pool on the vast campus remains idle for competitive swimming practices by as the pool does not have a permanent water source to refill the facility.
Officials of Public Works Department (PWD), which constructed the facility including its indoor stadium, said coaching for most of the competitive games, except swimming, were being given for sportspersons in the region by the Department of Youth Welfare and Sports Development.
“The existing water source in the sports complex was created to meet the general water needs. The swimming pool requires a separate water source for its functioning,” S. Jayaraman, Executive Engineer, PWD (Vellore), told The Hindu.
Spread over 36.68 acres between the railway station and VIT in Katpadi, the new facility has a spacious indoor stadium, an open auditorium that can accommodate at least 1,500 spectators, eight separate tracks for 400 metres athletics training, separate courts for basketball, volleyball, table tennis, tennis, coco, kabadi, football and a gym. Javelin throw can also be practised at the facility.
The swimming pool is 25 metres long, 16 metres wide and 4 feet deep. It has six swimming tracks in it with a capacity of one lakh litres of water. A recycling plant is also located to treat the used water from the pool. However, PWD officials said the plant should run at least six hours daily to sustain the facility. Due to less competitive swimmers in the region, such recycling of water from the pool on a daily basis remains a challenge.
At present, the stadium has two borewells to meet the daily needs of the stadium. Two additional Over Head Tanks with 30,000 litres capacity each are also located on the campus. However, PWD officials said that water from these facilities cannot be drawn to run the swimming pool as they are insufficient.
